Family foundation

Took my daughter to the hospital; she was admitted. I can go home now and cook scrambled eggs and eat them and then sleep for most of the day, having spent a sizable part of the night in the ER. To be fair to the emergency department, they’re busy, and understaffed, trying to fix societal problems that have become acute. The systems that society is supposed to run on, are not holding together all that well, except where the foundations are still good.

The foundation, in my experience, is family. A strong, unified family can weather almost anything. Which is good and necessary, because Anything is what will be thrown at you in this life. Of course, the members of the family have to choose to stick together. They’re much more likely to choose each other as companions, when they feel welcome, loved, and cared for.

Understanding helps—at least as far as anybody can understand anybody else. I only have my experience to go on, after all; you only have your experience. We both say, “Oh yes, I love garlic bread; it’s delicious!” But your sense of taste is yours, and what you like about it may differ from what I like; we may not even mean the same taste when we call it garlic.

Forgiveness is necessary. I get mad, you get upset, we are tempted to yell at each other and sometimes we do. Life is easier when we both apologize and try to understand each other, not holding grudges but letting go of our hurt.

Found family works, too; the core is commitment to each other, with care and forgiveness and trying again, returning to each other consistently.